Necklace making and placedness in Tasmania

This paper has been written against the backdrop of John B. Hawkins’ paper, A Suggested History of Tasmanian Aboriginal Kangaroo Skin or Sinew, Human Bone, Shell, Feather, Apple Seed & Wombat Necklaces, published in Australiana, November 2008, and the research it sparked. Hawkins proffered some contentious propositions concerning unlikely and speculative connections between Tasmanian Aboriginal shell necklace making and the making of so-called “Tasmanian Appleseed necklaces”. Within the acknowledgements section of his paper Hawkins said that he “[looked] forward to a response to [his] article by the museum authorities, for it is only by the cut and thrust of debate that knowledge can be further enhanced”. This paper takes up that challenge albeit from outside the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and totally independent of any institutional sponsorship.